ATLANTA Scottie SchefflerSunday morning saw him return to East Lake looking like the worlds No. He finished the third round with four birdies in six holes and a 4-under-66, giving him a 6-shot lead at the Tour Championship.
Scheffler was delivering a steady diet pars that put him in a tight fight with Xander SchauffeleThere was a second stoppage on Saturday due to lightning. Scheffler was 1 shot ahead at the time.
Then, he was gone.
Scheffler shot birdie putsts from approximately 5 feet on both the 13th and 15th holes. Scheffler stuffed his approach to 2 foot on the 17th, and then made a spectacular escape from the left rough above the water that gave him a long pitch that he almost holed on the par-5 18.
He reached 23-under par. He was one round away at the $18million prize for winning FedEx Cup.
Rory McIlroyScheffler will be in the final group after Scheffler birdied his last two holes for a score of 63. He was at 17 under, along with Schauffele. Schauffele had good eyes for birdie, but didnt make any Sunday morning.
Champion of defense Patrick Cantlay(66) Sungjae Im(66) was 7 shots behind.
Scheffler is No. Scheffler is the FedEx Cups No. 1 seed. He was awarded a 2-shot lead at 10 under par before the tournament began. He is currently at 13 under for his raw score, which is tied with McIlroys best score this week. McIlroy was however the No. McIlroy was the No. 7 seed, and began 6 shots behind.
Schauffele missed an 8-foot birdie putt on 13th hole. His next tee shot was so far to his right that he had a provisional to hit in case it was out-of-bounds. He missed a par putt of 10 feet to fall 3 behind, but he found the ball.
Schefflers tee shot on the par-3 15th was 5 feet. It was a front left pin to the water. Schauffele missed another chance, hitting a good one to 10ft.
Scheffler has already won four times this season, including the Masters, to become No. Scheffler is a strong candidate for the PGA Tour player award.
He won just over $14million in the regular season, a record and not surprising considering the steady rise of prize money. He won a $4M bonus from the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 , for leading the FedEx Cup in regular season. Additionally, he was awarded a $1M bonus for winning Aon Risk-Reward Challenge.
A victory Sunday afternoon would be equivalent to a $37million year for the 26 years-old Texas grad.